Leslie Allenby

Global Warming: Can You Make a Difference?

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!  Growing up I heard this phrase in folktales as a “wolf cry”-- a cry that is so ridiculous that nobody would believe it.  Now that global warming is a major environmental issue, the saying doesn’t sound so out of place.  Most people might say: what is global warming? That’s the question that was running through my mind when I first heard we were watching a documentary on it in my English 130 class.  The film is Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and it is about the causes of global warming and what it is doing to our planet.  Being an environmentally involved citizen and growing up with conservative Republicans as parents, I was torn between not really liking Gore and this extreme reality that I felt was an impending doom on Mother Earth.  The day before my writing class my dad called me and I brought up the fact that I was watching Gore’s film; his reaction was, “I’m paying for you to do that?” I tried to tell him it wasn’t about Gore and when I brought up global warming he claimed it was a scheme to get money and that our world is just running its regular course. I didn’t have much to say to him having not seen the film, and not really knowing what global warming was, so I didn’t argue.  I still showed up to class to watch the film despite my dad’s exasperation.  Our exchange on the phone inspired my first research question: what is global warming and what is it doing to the world?

Ironically, I found one of the best places to answer this question to be Al Gore’s film. In the beginning of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore explained the normal way our Earth heats up: the sun’s rays come into the atmosphere, the most vulnerable part of our world, while some infrared particles stay in to keep the normal temperature, and others leave. Global warming is caused by the greenhouse gases thickening the once thin atmosphere, trapping more greenhouse gases such as CO2, increasing the normal heat temperatures.  This is called the greenhouse effect.

This entrapped CO2 is causing glaciers all around the world to melt, creating heat waves on the earth, increasing ocean temperatures, precipitation, and droughts, shifting seasons, and melting ice caps. The issue of heat waves really caught my attention, as they will increase and  be unbearable for people to live in.   In 2003, for example, there was a heat wave in Europe that reached over 120 degrees and killed 35,000 Europeans (Gore 2006).  Ocean temperatures and increased precipitation will cause horrific storms such as hurricanes, typhoons, tornados, and stronger wind and rain storms. Gore claims that we’ve already seen this in the past couple of years with hurricanes like Katrina; in the past ten years the U.S. had an all time record for tornadoes in 2004 and Japan had an all time record for typhoons another year. Studies also show that ice caps have diminished at an unbelievable rate of 40% in the past 40 years!  This melting is suspected to raise sea levels by around 80 feet which would flood major cities like San Francisco, Manhattan, Beijing, Shanghai, India, and more, displacing and killing hundreds and millions of people (Gore, 2006). Imagine the effects of Hurricane Katrina times one hundred. Shifted seasons and environmental changes will lead to the extinction of animals. In the film Gore stated that scientists were reporting polar bears drowning because of their inability to swim from iceberg to iceberg due to the melting. The rapid increase in climate change also shows increases in the spread of diseases such as malaria because of the increase in disease spreading insects (Martens, 79).

When researching the causes of global warming, I found a website called timeforchange.org. The website was created by Anne Christine Peterson and Jurg Rohrer, who are looking to spread their knowledge of environmental technology to promote change to make our world a better place.  This website supplied all sorts of information about what is causing global warming and increased levels of CO2 emissions.  Here I learned that the greenhouse gases that are causing this warming are water vapor, carbon monoxide (CO2), ozone, and methane with the leading source being carbon monoxide, and the burning of fossil fuels is responsible for 72% of the greenhouse gas emissions. One study from Gore’s film that confirms this statistic was a study in Antarctica where scientists were able to track the world’s CO2 and temperature levels back 650,000 years. They found that now we are way above what the levels have ever been and they estimated the levels to go off the charts in the next 50 years.  The charts provided on timeforchange.org under the section called “CO2: The Major Cause of Global Warming” showed the CO2 levels almost tripling in increases just from 1990 to 2005 along with the increased temperatures, hence the warming of the planet.  These emissions aren’t just slowly hurting us: it’s happening fast.  Both “Time for Change” and An Inconvenient Truth argue that it is largely our actions that are causing these high amounts of greenhouse gases, such as industrial processes, power stations, transportation fuels, agricultural byproducts, waste disposal and treatment, biomass burning, fossil fuel retrieval, processing, and distribution, and other sources including what you do in your home. This brought me to my next research question--whether or not the corporations in charge of these emissions and the government are trying to make more efficient, global-friendly changes.

It made sense to examine the US Environmental Protection Agency’s findings.  I went to this government website, which provided all sorts of information on climate change such as scientific facts, statistics on greenhouse gas emissions, health and environmental effects, what individuals can do, and finally the information I was looking for: the U.S. Climate Policy.  The policy explained that the government is taking action with a goal to lower emissions by year 2012 by 18 percent using more up-to-date and energy-efficient technology, creating programs with industry to use cleaner fuels, and to promote using energy more efficiently overall. It seemed to me that the government was taking action, but remembering my Republican father’s reaction to the subject, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was true. He is a major supporter of President Bush and knowing this I would think he supported changes if Bush did.  I wanted to see if this government plan was really being taken seriously and in action.

I found an article from the USA Today website called “Corporate America Warms to Fight Global Warming” written by David Lynch.  This article explained how corporate leader Paul Anderson of Duke Energy Plant proposed that the government tax corporations based on the greenhouse gases they emit. This would motivate big emitters of greenhouse gases to want to switch to energy efficient practices so their taxes aren’t so high.  Electric Power Plants are showed to be the number one emitters of carbon dioxide meaning that changes in these companies toward energy efficient ways would decrease emissions and lead the way towards a healthier planet.  Forty different companies (including Boeing, PG&E, Whirlpool, etc.) have joined an environmental council publicly endorsing the fact that climate change is a real threat to our economy and showing they are willing to make changes.  But Lynch claims that Anderson is ridiculed by his idea and that President Bush thinks a suggestion like that would cripple our economy.  This surprised me because the article also claims Anderson to be a registered Republican, a supporter of Bush, and hold a place on the President’s council of Advisors of Science and Technology.  I was then appalled to learn in the article that President Bush refused the 2012 plan because it was too costly for our economy!

My conclusion is that many corporations have recognized the problem we are facing while our current administration is more interested in not making changes.  I also don’t understand how we haven’t signed the treaty with Anderson on his council of Advisors of SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY saying he wants companies to be taxed based on their emissions and explaining that this crisis is inevitable if we don’t act upon it.  At this point in my research I felt that, since the U.S. government is moving slowly on this issue, I have to take responsibility for my own actions.  Being one person in this huge world of politics, I couldn’t help but wonder what can I do to make a difference?

I decided to research that next using an article from The Futurist written by Lane Jennings called “Climate Change: What Can We Do?”  I found this article using the library databases and was pleased to find it overflowing with things I can do as one person to make my daily practices more energy efficient.  I could have also used the EPA government website, but I was reluctant because of the misleading information I received about the government plan of action for global warming.  Jennings states that “Global warming threatens our economy, our dreams, our very lives. But individuals, businesses, and nations can jointly solve the problem.” Jennings describes the things I could change in my home, such as shift to energy efficient lighting, cut down energy needs (turn lights off when not needed, unplugging appliances, increasing laundry loads, etc.), and switch to all energy-sufficient appliances. Driving my car less, driving a Hybrid, and using walking or biking as transportation would also help.  She also states that the beef industry takes up a lot of grazing land, water resources, and energy so eating less beef is also helpful. Of all these things people could do themselves she stressed that telling other about global warming, organizing support groups to make these changes, and getting involved in the community and government will cause the most effective results because more people will be informed: “Even if a few of these ideas were adopted widely, the results would certainly be visible and positive.”

I have already made several of these changes, like using my bike or walking for transportation whenever possible, cutting down energy needs, shopping for organic foods, and not eating beef.  I am willing to make these changes in my life and I’m even more willing to inform people of global warming and what they can do. When I researched all these things, the first thing I did was call my dad to inform him.  He was reluctant but my persistence and enthusiasm (not to mention me telling him that these changes would save him money) finally made him give in to making changes in our home.  He still refuses to watch Gore’s documentary, though.  I felt like I had accomplished something by seeing changes because of my actions and my passion for the issue.  This change that I caused reminded me of France Moore Lappe’s  “A Diet for a Small Planet.”  One particular quote that stood out was, “As I became more convincing to myself, I was more convincing to other people” (456).  In the beginning of my essay I talked of my father and his views but wasn’t educated about what I was trying to tell him. As I learned more and became more convinced that global warming was a serious issue, I was capable of convincing my father to adjust his ways.  Through this paper I have learned what is meant by her quote by actually living it and experiencing it.  

Throughout this narrative I have researched the causes, effects, and dangers of global warming. I have researched what actions corporations and the government has or has not taken to make changes in our world, and what I could do myself to help.  I have learned about everyday things I could change and how to be more effective person in spreading the word and making a difference. Based on my research I’ve concluded that global warming is hurting our Earth and it needs to be acted upon. I feel that corporations are taking necessary steps towards helping and I hope that continues. The government on the other hand is pointing us in the wrong direction, making us believe they are making changes but in reality are avoiding them. Bush denied a plan to reduce emissions because of the cost it will have on our economy, but what about our lives and our planet?  Is that not more important?  This semester in Laxon Auditorium Frances Moore Lappe mentioned a quote that will not leave my mind: “Life loves life.” Do we not love life? Even if the costs aren’t as detrimental now, what do we think will happen in our future to our kids and grandkids?  Life does love life, and I believe that if we inform people on how dangerous this may be we can all take action together and make the government make changes. We are a democracy and the world follows in our footsteps. We need to make the right decisions now because we can’t buy ourselves a new planet. 

Works Cited

Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth. Pennsylvania: Rodale, 2006.

Jennings, Lane. “Climate Change: What Can We Do?” The Futurist. Volume 36, Section 1. January/February 2002.

Lappe, Frances Moore. “Diet for a Small Planet.” Composing a Civic Life. Eds. Michael Bendt and Amy Muse. NY: Pearson Longman, 2007. 454-459.

Lynch, David. “Corporate America Warms to Fight Against Global Warming.” USAToday.com. 5 June 2006. 2 April 2007. http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2006-05-31-business-globalwarming_x.htm

Martins, Pim. Health and Climate Change. UK: Earthscan Publications Ltd., 1998.

Peterson, Anne Kristen, Jurg Rohrer. Time for Change: Cause and Effect of Global Warming. 27 March 2007. http://timeforchange.org.

United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Climate Change. 20 February 2007. 27 March 2007. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/

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